Meta Agents
Meta-agents are agents whose job is to govern other agents; KCC mandates two at the kernel level — the Token Guard and the Butler.
Meta-Agents Govern Other Agents
Meta-agents are agents whose job is to govern other agents. KCC specifies two meta-agents at the kernel level. Cells may implement additional cell-local meta-agents, but the Butler and the Token Guard are kernel-mandated and present in every KCC deployment.
The Two Meta-Agents
| Meta-Agent | Purpose | Operates |
|---|---|---|
| The Token Guard | Enforces cost envelopes and blast-radius limits | Before, during, after every invocation |
| The Butler | Makes per-invocation gating decisions (HITL vs HOTL) | Before every invocation |
Why Two and Not One
Governance components should be small, single-purpose, and composable.
The Token Guard is about resources (tokens, latency, blast radius). The Butler is about trust (HITL vs HOTL, reviewer attention, complexity). Separating them keeps the logic of each tractable and replaceable.
Meta-Agent Interaction
- The Token Guard runs first (cost gates).
- If the Token Guard escalates (cost approaching ceiling), the Butler receives that signal.
- The Butler may override its score to HITL based on the Token Guard signal.
- After invocation, both meta-agents contribute to telemetry that the Inspector Pipeline observes.
What Meta-Agents Do NOT Do
Meta-agents do not perform the work of the agents they govern. They are routing, gating, and enforcement functions only. This keeps them small (minimal scope), auditable (behavior verifiable end to end), and replaceable (alternative implementations possible without changing the kernel contract).
Extending Meta-Agents
Cells may implement cell-local meta-agents in addition to the kernel-mandated Butler and Token Guard — for example a Domain Validator (validates outputs against domain rules), a Style Enforcer, or an Audit Logger. Cell-local meta-agents conform to the kernel agent contract; they are not part of the kernel and do not affect other cells.